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Team Canada men’s hockey coach Jon Cooper may not like the Olympics’ three-on-three overtime format, but that doesn’t matter at all.
It will be in place.
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Luc Tardif told The Athletic that despite Cooper’s complaints after his team’s gold medal loss to Team USA on Sunday, they will continue to use the format in future tournaments.
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Canada’s coach Jon Cooper responds to the media during a press conference after the Ice Hockey Men’s Final between the USA and Canada on day sixteen of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
“It’s the best rules to fit into a tight schedule,” Tardif told the magazine. “We have to figure out 30 matches in 11 days for men and for women 28 matches in 13 days – 58 in total in 16 days.
“Huge challenge.”
The IIHF wanted to introduce the three-on-three format that the NHL uses in its regular season to prevent the use of the shootout. However, the NHL changes to five-on-five hockey in the playoffs with no shootouts – only the game-winning goal.
However, Cooper couldn’t help himself as he ripped into the extra-time format after watching Jack Hughes sneak the gold medal goal past his goalkeeper, Jordan Binnington.
“You take four players off the ice, now hockey is not hockey anymore,” Cooper told the New York Post. “There’s a reason overtime and shootouts are in play — it’s all televised to finish games, so it’s not a long time. There’s a reason it’s not in the Stanley Cup Finals or the playoffs.”
Head coach Jon Cooper of Team Canada speaks to his players after the team’s 3-2 victory in the men’s semi-final playoff game between Canada and Finland on day fourteen of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 20, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Overtime in the opening rounds of the Olympics lasted five minutes, with a five-round shootout if a game-winning goal was not scored in that time. For the quarterfinals and semifinals, overtime was increased to 10 minutes, followed by 20 minutes in the gold medal matches.
Canada didn’t get as clean a look at the net as Hughes did on his game-winning shot, but they had tons of chances over the three periods. In the end, the USA was able to keep the game at one a piece through 60 minutes with huge saves by goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck, who was dubbed “the Secretary of Defense” by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for his performance.
After the game, Cooper wasn’t the only Canadian to show some bitterness over the result. Assistant captain Nathan MacKinnon, who missed an open net in the third period that could have been the winner for Team Canada, made an interesting comment to the press.
“You have to judge who was the better team today,” he said.
Head coach Jon Cooper of Team Canada takes part in practice on day two of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 8, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
While Cooper, MacKinnon and the rest of Team Canada ponder what-ifs, Team USA took Air Force One to visit President Donald Trump on Tuesday ahead of his State of the Union address. The team was seen in the Oval Office, where Trump personally congratulated each player on their tremendous achievement.
The United States won its most golds at a single Winter Olympics (12), which included the women’s ice hockey team also beating Team Canada in overtime thanks to Megan Keller’s heroics.
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